


At The End of the Road

by cirrus (themorninglark)



Series: rareprompts [20]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Behind the Scenes, Canon Compliant, F/M, Post-S1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 22:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4540320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themorninglark/pseuds/cirrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I heard you retired," says Daichi.</p><p>"Yeah," Michimiya says lightly, with a nod. "I heard you didn't."</p>
            </blockquote>





	At The End of the Road

**Author's Note:**

> For an anon prompter who requested DaiYui. They are really sweet, and this is a conversation I wanted them to have after I found out that Yui had retired while Daichi decided to stay on, so - I hope you like it!

"I heard you retired," says Daichi.

For once, they're not standing in a corridor. It's become something of a accidental habit, for them: stealing their conversations between classes, in the spare few minutes of lunchtime that remain, or after school, when they just happen to be passing by each other's classrooms at the right time. Sometimes, Daichi waves Suga on and hangs back to talk to Michimiya, for a while. They talk of training. Of schedules and rotations. They talk of the familiar.

It's not like he's the chattiest of people, but he knows she can always be counted upon to fill in the silences. They've walked this well-worn path together, now, for nearly six years.

In the end, Daichi had decided, this wasn't a conversation he wanted to have in a corridor.

"Yeah," Michimiya says lightly, with a nod. "I heard you didn't."

She takes a bite of her _nikuman_ , and glances at him, expectation brimming in her eyes. Her footsteps slow. The walk between the corner store and the bus stop's only so long.

Daichi comes to a stop by a vending machine, and buys himself a can of hot milk coffee.

"Well - "

He allows himself a rueful grin.

"No. I didn't. I wanted to."

Michimiya sighs. Daichi knows the sound, softens his smile and steels himself for the reproving look she's about to throw his way.

_Ah. There it is._

As he opens his coffee and takes a long sip, she leans back against the cracked white wall, and scuffs a toe absently into the ground. The late summer breeze picks up, blows her hair into her eyes. She squeezes them shut. Opens them again, and behind those long lashes, her gaze sparks like a flint.

" _I_ didn't want to. We should swap, Sawamura."

"Isn't it the normal thing to do, though?" Daichi muses. "To retire, I mean. At this time in our third year."

"Who are _you_ to say something like that?" says Michimiya, punching him in his side. "Didn't you say to me, before - "

She puts her hands on her hips, squares her shoulders and clears her throat, in a passable imitation of Daichi. " _I make it a habit not to listen to what others tell me._ "

And Daichi can't help laughing, because he _did_ say that once. In a corridor.

"You always remember," he says. "I need to be more careful what I say to you."

Michimiya, her cheeks pinking, turns away, but not before Daichi catches the tiny, upward quirk to her lips.

"I didn't want to retire because of what you said."

She looks up at the evening sky, streaked with gold and memories.

"Everyone said we wouldn't make it past the first round. _I_ said it. And we didn't. But we fought - and I wanted to keep fighting - but no one else did, and I…"

Her voice trails off, quiet. The wind blows dry, crackling leaves down the sidewalk; Daichi steps on one as he joins her by the wall, hears the satisfying _crunch_ beneath his feet, and leans back as well.

"Ahhh - I'm being silly again."

Her head dips, and for one sunlit moment, Daichi feels a warm weight on his shoulder. His gaze flicks sideways, just in time to see her spring up, leap back, face red as a stoplight.

"I'm sorry! That was - uh - I shouldn't have - "

Daichi smiles. "It was okay. Michimiya - are you happy?"

She stares at him, blinking. "Happy?"

"Even though you didn't want to retire. You've worked hard, Michimiya. You've done your best. You should be proud."

Michimiya's eyes widen. Daichi, knowing full well she's going to remember this, that she'll carry it with her, weighs his words as carefully as he can.

"I don't want you to feel like you've left it half-completed," he says.

Because that isn't the story of them, of captains Sawamura and Michimiya. They haven't come this far to have regrets. And Michimiya nods with conviction, returns Daichi's smile with one of her own, full of hope and fervour.

"Yeah. You too, Sawamura. You've got one last shot, so - don't go around saying things like _I wanted to retire_ , okay?"

"I promise. I won't say it to anyone else after today."

"Good."

She claps him on the shoulder, finishes her _nikuman_ , throws the empty paper wrapper in a bin and leads the way downhill. Daichi drinks up the last of his coffee and follows.

At the end of the road, the bus stop awaits. Michimiya will get on her bus home, and Daichi will get on his, and perhaps they won't ever have an occasion again to talk about volleyball. But then, perhaps it means they'll get to talk about other things. Perhaps this won't be the last conversation they have, out of a school corridor. After all, her smile is brighter in daylight.

At the end of the road, they find themselves - here -

On the brink of tomorrow.

"I wonder what it'll be like," Michimiya murmurs, as they walk on.

"What?" asks Daichi.

Michimiya's lips part, for a moment, close again as she shakes her head. "Nothing."

 _Everything,_ Daichi hears.

"I think," says Daichi, "it'll be okay."

 


End file.
